UC NEWS

Applied Ethics Institute Presents Talk on Same-Sex Marriage

Canadian Professor: Why it is a Requirement of Reason in Secular Democracy

Written By Victoria Lamanna '15, PR Intern

Discussion of legal and ethic constraints on reasoning about same-sex marriage

Contact

cleogrande@utica.edu

Utica, NY (02/20/2014)

- On Thursday, March 6, the Applied Ethics Institute at Utica College will welcome philosopher and linguist Adele Mercier who will present her talk, “Same Sex Marriage: Why it is a Requirement of Reason in a Secular Democracy.”

In 2001, Mercier served as an expert witness for Canadian Courts in the year’s same-sex marriage debate, which led to legalizing same-sex marriages throughout the country.

Mercier will discuss the ethical and legal constraints on reasoning about the issue. She will also review various arguments against same-sex marriage as they were presented in the Canadian Courts and illustrate how each one resorts to fallacious reasoning.

Mercier earned a master’s degree from the University of Ottawa and UCLA, as well as a master’s in linguistics, doctorate and a Candidate in Philosophy degree in linguistics from UCLA. While interested in a broad array of disciplines such as logic, ethics, philosophy of law and political philosophy, her areas of expertise include the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, issues in metaphysics and epistemology and more.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will take place in the Carbone Family Auditorium at 7 p.m.

For more information about this event, contact Christopher A. Riddle, assistant professor and chair of philosophy and director of the Applied Ethics Institute at UC, at (315) 792-3759 or cariddle@utica.edu.

About Utica College – Utica College, founded in 1946, is a comprehensive private institution offering bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. The College, located in upstate central New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls over 4,000 students in 36 undergraduate majors, 27 minors, 21 graduate programs and a number of pre-professional and special programs.

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